Gabarone - Hundreds of Batswana have been left homeless and at least one is feared dead after three days of heavy rain caused widespread flooding across normally-arid Botswana, police said on Thursday.
Police spokesman Joshua Eimbo said most of the country's major roads were impassable as they were submerged in what weather officials said were the worst floods in 30 years.
The main road linking the north of the country with the south has been washed away at the town of Morwa, about 70km north of the capital, Eimbo told reporters.
A weather official said some 371mm of rain had fallen in southern Botswana in the past three days - about three-quarters of the average 500mm that falls annually in the region.
The official could not immediately supply figures for the north of the country, but said the situation there was similar to that in the south.
In Kopong village, about 30km from the capital, villagers were forced to seek refuge on rooftops as the Metsimotlhabe river burst its banks.
Eimbo said said at least one man is missing, "possibly swept away by the floods."
Police and the Botswana Defence Force were assisting those affected by the floods.
Farmers along the river have also been badly affected as most of their crops have been washed away.
According to a farmer in the area, Kgatlhanong Diphakedi, crops have been badly ravaged by the rain and floods.
"Our huts and crops are destroyed and I do not know how we are going to survive," Diphakedi said on Thursday.
Farmers also fear that should the heavy rains continue, their livestock, which has barely recovered from a terrible drought, will be affected.
Rail traffic between Gaborone and the northern town of Francistown ground to a halt when the railway line was washed away in two places, Botswana Railways spokesman Gase Kealeboga said.
Most major dams have reached their capacities. Officials fear for the safety of those living downriver of the dams.
"Our dam levels are monitored on a regular basis and if there is any impending danger, people will be alerted in good time," Boitumelo Molefhe, spokesman for the Water Utilities Corporation, said on Thursday.
Weather officials warn that more heavy rains are expected in the next two days, particularly in the northern and central parts of the country. - Sapa-AFP